When young Agnes Grey's family falls on hard financial times, she decides to take a job as a governess with the wealthy Bloomfield family, and then later the even-wealthier Murray family. But they are cruel and unkind, and with them Agnes is lonely isolated, and very aware of how vulnerable she is.

What Agnes wants is happiness and fulfillment, but are they out of reach for her?

Agnes Grey is Anne Brontë's first novel and based on the author's own experiences of the challenges faced by young women born without many opportunities.